One of Thailand's largest conglomerates, Charoen Pokphand Group, has announced a major restructuring.

The group plans to sell off non-core assets and merge twelve key subsdiaries into a single agricultural business company which will be listed on the Thai Stock Exchange.

In a bid to raise capital the group will also issue more than ninety million new shares.

Correspondents say the restructuring was an essential move to enable the company to maintain its competiveness during the Asian economic crisis.